Whisky Focus - Diageo Appoints New Managing Director Of Scotland's Whisky Tourism

Diageo, the leading global producer of premium drinks and Scotland's foremost Scotch Whisky tourism operator, has appointed Dafydd Pugh Williams as the Managing Director of its brand homes across Scotland.

With over 17 years of experience in the drinks industry, Dafydd has held various key roles in commercial, marketing, and retail both in the UK and internationally. He began his career at AB-InBev and has spent the last 13 years at Diageo.

In 2023, Diageo welcomed over 1.1 million visitors to its 12 Scottish brand homes, significantly contributing to Scotland’s tourism and hospitality sector.

Diageo’s brand homes offer a diverse range of visitor experiences across Scotland, including Talisker on Skye, Lagavulin on Islay, Oban, The Singleton at Glen Ord, and Johnnie Walker Princes Street in Edinburgh.

In 2018, Diageo committed to a pioneering investment of £185 million to create world-class visitor experiences in Scotland. This investment led to the opening of Johnnie Walker Princes Street and the development of four distilleries key to whisky blending, representing Scotland's 'four corners' and regional variations: Lowland (Glenkinchie), Speyside (Cardhu), Islay (Caol Ila), and Highland (Clynelish). The final phase of this investment saw the revival of the 'ghost' distilleries Brora and Port Ellen, completed in 2021 and March 2024, respectively.

Dafydd Pugh Williams, managing director of Scotland brand homes at Diageo, said: "Scotch Whisky creates economic opportunities across Scotland, from our capital city to the communities of the Highlands and Islands. It’s an honour to be leading our work in making Scotch whisky an even more exciting and vibrant experience for our guests, and powering the Scottish economy.

"Breaching the 1 million visitor threshold for the first time in 2023 is an amazing achievement, but it isn’t the summit of our ambitions. My aim in this role is to grow whisky tourism in Scotland and responsibly grow our brands."

Since its launch, Johnnie Walker Princes Street has garnered numerous national and international accolades as a top tourism destination. Rated as a five-star attraction by VisitScotland, it recently received the World’s Leading Spirit Experience and Europe’s Leading Spirit Tourism Experience awards at the World Travel Awards. Additionally, the Edinburgh visitor experience was honoured as the Icons of Whisky Visitor Attraction of the Year and won the prestigious global Themed Entertainment Association (THEA) Award for Outstanding Achievement.

According to the latest figures from the Scotch Whisky Association, over 2 million people visited Scotch whisky visitor experiences in the 2022 calendar year but given the current ongoing global cost of living crisis it wont be plain sailing for Dafydd Pugh Williams in his new position as the Managing Director of its brand homes across Scotland.
 

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